Strategy Tips

Your Stones have more power as a group than alone. Working together, they can move farther, block more effectively, and can even pin your opponent’s Column to its Base. Your main Stone strategies are:

Attacking Your Opponent’s Base

With the protection of your Column, you can move a Stone right up to the edge of your opponent’s Base.

You can move a Stone nearly as close, even without protection, as long as it remains out of reach of your opponent’s Column.

You can win the game by getting a Stone onto your opponent’s Base.

Creating Bridges for Hopping

By creating a bridge of Stones for continuous hopping you can quickly move your rear Stones ahead to join your forward Stones.

Your Column can hop along such a bridge to attack your opponent’s pieces or Base or to protect one of your Stones in a hard to reach spot. Sometimes you can even capture your opponent’s Column with an unnoticed bridge.

Blocking Your Opponent’s Pieces

You can use one of your Stones to block the advance of one of your opponent’s Stones; and if your Stone is protected by your Column it can even block your opponent’s Column.

Two of your Stones in a direct line can be used as a buffer to delay your opponent’s Column when it’s attacking your Base.

Sacrificing Your Stones

Often you can move a Stone into a dangerous position because if your opponent’s Column captures that Stone it will then be unable to protect its Base.

Sometimes you may want to sacrifice one of your Stones to be able to capture a more threatening Stone from your opponent.

You might also use a Stone as bait in a bridge trap to capture your opponent’s Column.

COLUMN STRATEGIES:

Your Column is your most powerful piece. Its the only piece you have that can capture your opponent’s pieces or protect your own pieces or your Base. Your main Column strategies are:

Attacking Your Opponent’s Base

By attacking your opponent’s Base or the Stones protecting it, you can put your opponent on the defensive while moving your Stones forward. This is also a good defensive move when your own column or Base is threatened.

You can win the game by getting your Column onto your opponent’s Base.

Capturing Your Opponent’s Stones

To most effectively capture one of your opponent’s Stones, attack two Stones when only one of them can be protected by your opponent’s Column. Or attack a Stone and your opponent’s Base when only the Base can be protected.

Protecting Your Stones and Base

Your Column can best protect one of your Stones by being able to capture your opponent’s Column if it captures your Stone.

The next best way to protect one of your Stones is to threaten an important Stone or the Base of your opponent.

Your Column can protect your own Base by occupying it (since it can’t be captured there) or by protecting the Stones you have around it.

Sacrificing Your Column

You can afford to sacrifice your Column if it allows you to capture your opponent’s Base with one of your Stones in your next move.

WINNING MOVES:

To get one of your pieces onto your opponent’s Base, you need to prevent your opponent’s Column from occupying it. The three ways you can do this are:

Capturing the Column

Using a Stone as bait, lure your opponent’s Column onto a space where you can capture it. Your opponent’s Base will then be unprotected against your Column. (This may be hard to accomplish against an experienced opponent.)

Outmaneuvering the Column

With threats or lures, maneuver your opponent’s Column onto a space where it can’t reach its Base before one of your pieces does. You may need to attack your opponent’s Base with your Column—since your Stones can be blocked by your opponent’s Stones.

Pinning the Column

Pin your opponent’s Column to its Base by threatening that Base with two of your pieces (usually a Stone and your Column). Your opponent’s Column won’t be able to capture one of your pieces without being captured itself or without leaving its Base open to your other piece.

When you pin your opponent’s Column with two Stones, your Column is free to capture your opponent’s remaining Stones. (Stones can be trapped in the board’s corners.) Your opponent’s Column will then have to move off its Base, allowing one of your pieces in.